A Question about Bocage & Hedgerows

[MGH]

I am currently playing out a solo battle between the rebel Vendeans and the Republican French in the early 1790s. I've made sure I have long sections of bocage along roads and setting farmland boundaries to try and capture what those battlefields were like.

Now I am at a point where suddenly I have no idea whether it was even possible for infantry to go thru the bocage or would they have to keep moving until they found a roadway or an opening onto a field? I am already pretty confident neither cavalry nor artillery could cross them but unclear about foot soldiers.

So how effective did these hedgerows channel movement of troops. I recall reading about Normandy in WW2 where the US tanks were fitted with plows to bash thru the bocage there.

Anyhow anyone knowledgeable person able to help me on this issue? I would appreciate it!

[FlyXwire]

Sorry, I had a link for WW2, but now see you're referencing another period instead.

[olicana]

I have never seen French bocage but, on Guernsey (where a lived for a couple of years) there are patches of countryside with hedges and ditches very similar to that described as bocage.

I can tell you now, without a lot of sappers working with axes, there isn't a chance in hell of anything going through them except at gates. A man without equipment might, with a great deal of difficulty, find a place to crawl and wriggle his way through at the base but lots of men with packs, cartridge boxes and other accoutrements would not be able to pass because of snagging on the innumerable 'branches'. I wonder if that's why French battalions had so many sapeurs prior to 1808.

Also, the fields they surround in that part of Guernsey are very small and irregularly shaped - I doubt a full battalion could deploy in line in any of them because they are simply too small.

[MGH]

Ahh, that makes sense, yes. My Republicans have no sapeurs with them I'm afraid. But OK, I won't let infantry go thru them. Thanks, Olicana.

One other question springs to mind, can troops fire thru them at targets on the other side?

A book I'm reading on the Vendee Rebellion talks about the Vendeans ambushing Republican columns by firing from ambush. So I wonder - ambush from the bocage?

[robh]

Don't forget that the fields were (are) almost always on a higher level on the open side of the Bocage than the surface of the sunken lane/pathway between them.
It is perfectly feasible for troops in the field to push muskets through the undergrowth from the field side, as they are on top of the stone and earth bank and likely over the head height of the unfortunates standing in the sunken lane.

[Jemima Fawr]

The answer as always is 'how long is a bit of string'?  There will be occasional spots where the thorn-bushes along the top have got a bit 'leggy' and you can squeeze underneath them.  There will also be bits where the cattle have scraped away and broken through.  There will also be occasional styles, gates and narrow openings for a man to pass through, but not wide enough for les vaches.  But going through as a formed unit - not a chance in hell (I live in West Wales, which was also 'Bocaged' by the Normans and Flemings and I know Normandy very well indeed).

[MGH]

Helpful stuff, why I love this forum!

I ended up deciding no units may go thru the bocage itself but I do allow fire thru it at an enemy on other side but that target unit gets a cover bonus.

It's early in the battle so far but the Vendeans are outnumbered right now and their first attempt to stop the Republican columns went poorly. They lost more guys than they inflicted so they are retreating toward a small town with a bridge at the outskirts.

However three columns of Vendeans are closing in from two different directions so it is far from over. I hope to post pics once the action is over.

[fastolfrus]

I suppose you might be able to create a gap by using cannister against it, though I can't recall any accounts mentioning it. I suspect wargamers are happier to use precious ammunition speculatively then historical commanders were.

Otherwise, individual men might be able to get over a hedge, especially if their comrades give them a boost, but it would take time and you couldn't get a formed unit over, also the ones giving a boost would get left behind.
Although I suppose it could be an option if you had two units. But would be suicidal if the hedge was even lightly defended.
I suppose you could factor it as a melee against the hedge itself.

[Siaba]

I have seen bocage in south Normandy.
I could say you could fire through the hedges if you are just behind it, and it would provide cover. I think it's possible by infantrymen to go through but it takes time and a whole unit will be in disorder. As previously said, I can't imagine a whole battalion in line formed in a single field...it would be cut by bocage hedges and become difficult to coordinate.

[bluewillow]

I live in Mayenne (old Maine)

heart of the northern battles of the campaign, with 60 odd ambushes and five major battles. Too much of the bocage has disappeared here, but what does remain is thick with trees, hedge and stone walls.

The fields that gave not been cleared are quite small, with gateways leading into laneways being the only way to traverse it, lots of small woods also, plus a few larger forests. They are hard to cross but possible, for formed units, cavalry and artillery impossible to keep formation, skirmishers yes, as you can pick a path, as I do when I hunt.

 The Chouan used this to full advantage when fighting the republicans, bridges and crossing points of rivers along with the major town centres really were the only way the republicans could control areas, patrolling in force.

When things clear up I can take some photos for you. But search Bocage mayennaise, for some google earth shots.

Cheers
Matt
Mayenne,
Pays de la Loire


 

[MGH]

Merci! 

I will do some googling too.